Infinity, Limited

This is Jonathan Coopersmith's history of technology blog. An Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University, Coopersmith’s latest book is FAXED: The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015).

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  Feb 11, 2019
  

  Why do people still use fax machines?

  by Infinity, Limited

  Faxing remains alive and well, especially in Japan and Germany – and in major sectors of the U.S. economy, such as health care and financial services. 

  

• 
  Dec 30, 2018
  

  Technology's Poor Step-Sister: Maintenance

  by Infinity, Limited

  Like Rodney Dangerfield, maintenance, whether of physical or social infrastructure, gets little respect despite its importance.  As one wag puts it:  “everyone wants to save the earth, but no one wants to do the dishes.”

  

• 
  May 12, 2017
  

  What Fax Machines Can Tell Us About Electric Cars

  by Infinity, Limited

  Imagine if you could fill up your GM car only at GM gas stations.   It's the fax system problem all over again.

  

• 
  Feb 12, 2017
  

  Academic opposition to Trump's Muslim ban

  by Infinity, Limited

  Getting academics to work together is often, as the old joke goes, like herding cats.  So what did it take to get scores of scientific and academic organizations to act together?  The answer is President Trump’s January 27 blanket banning, now temporarily stayed by court order, certain groups of Muslims from entering the United States. 
  

• 
  Jan 12, 2017
  

  Obama's Legacy in Science, Technology, and Innovation

  by Infinity, Limited

  What will be the legacy of Barack Obama's policies in science, technology, and innovation?  His most important policy was not a specific goal but promoting the scientific approach -- experimental, data-driven, open, and transparent -- as an integral part of federal policy making and implementation.  
  

• 
  Dec 23, 2016
  

  "It Can't Happen Here, Can It?" Will Trump and Climate Deniers Purge American Science and Technology?

  by Infinity, Limited

  Is the incoming Trump administration planning a purge of government climate science research and researchers?  If historical cases such as Soviet persecution and McCarthyism offer any precedent, such a purge will prove destructive to both careers and the national interests of the United States – and give other countries the opportunity to hire top-quality American researchers.  

  

• 
  Sep 25, 2016
  

  Coal Comfort: Is Hillary Clinton being “Al Gored”?

  by Infinity, Limited

  She didn't promise to put coal miners out of work.  But the media passed along the claim that she did.  This is deplorable.
  

• 
  Jul 22, 2016
  

  The real star of the 1968 conventions: Now you really are there

  by Infinity, Limited

  While politics dominated the 1968 presidential conventions, NBC’s introduction of a portable microphone system greatly expanded the ability of its reporters to roam the convention floor and make viewers feel “you are there.”  Television coverage would never be the same.  

   

  

• 
  Jul 19, 2016
  

  Does Technology Make Us Dumber or Smarter? Yes.

  by Infinity, Limited

  Since humans began to farm, technology has made us individually dumber and individually smarter – and collectively smarter. Technology has made us able to do more while understanding less about what we are doing, and has increased our dependence on others.  What technology has not done is make us wiser.

  
  

  

• 
  Jun 17, 2016
  

  Technology and Politics: Neither good, nor bad, nor neutral

  by Infinity, Limited

  The Economist aptly applied “Technology is neither good, nor bad, nor neutral,” Mel Kranzberg’s first law of the history of technology, to its recent discussion of technology and politics.  While the revolutionary power of digital data and social media are great, possibly greater are the opportunities for repressive states to observe dissidents, attack opponents, manipulate public perceptions, and even create alternate realities to stay in power.  Such efforts have a long history, but the digital politics offers much greater potential and peril.

  

• 
  Feb 17, 2016
  

  What if politicians acted like engineers?

  by Infinity, Limited

  What if politicians acted like engineers and tried to pragmatically solve problems?  The pro-life movement has a great opportunity to reduce the number of abortions in America, not by trying to defund Planned Parenthood, but by supporting long-acting reversible contraceptives for women.  These contraceptives are very effective because they minimize human error.  A Colorado experiment providing these long-term contraceptives to low income women sharply reduced abortions and high-risk births.  
  

• 
  Dec 31, 2015
  

  Why I Miss Old Fashioned Library Cards

  by Infinity, Limited

  When the teenage library records of novelist Haruki Murakami were published the Japan Library Association criticized this violation of privacy.  But this information used to be public. It was useful. 
  

• 
  Nov 10, 2015
  

  Why Do Some Scholars Win Prizes (and Others Don't)?

  by Infinity, Limited

  Looking at the prizes a society awards and who receives them offers a useful historical tool to trace the evolution of a field and its practitioners.  
  

• 
  Sep 20, 2015
  

  Another Casualty of Bin Laden's Attack on America Was the Space Program

  by Infinity, Limited

  One of the hidden casualties of America's second Iraq war was NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. 
  

• 
  Jul 18, 2015
  

  Comparative History: Telling A Tale of Two Cities

  by Infinity, Limited

  Kate Brown has provided a fascinating and important comparative history of Ozersk, Russia, and Richmond, Washington during the Cold War and after.
  

• 
  Feb 25, 2015
  

  Compromising Engineers and the Keystone XL Pipeline

  by Infinity, Limited

  Compromise may be a career-ending concept in politics, but it is essential in engineering. 

  Every day engineers have to balance legitimate and conflicting interests.  What makes a great engineer is not only the ability to find the best balance but also to convince the appropriate people of the wisdom of that decision. President Obama's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline provides a similar opportunity for a grand compromise of political engineering:  Democratic support for the pipeline in exchange for Republican support of a carbon tax.  

  
  
  

• 
  Feb 16, 2015
  

  Welcome to Infinity, Limited

  by Infinity, Limited

  Infinity Limited is HNN's newest blog.  It's all about technology.